Natasha Lomas
Senior Reporter
The Latest from Natasha Lomas
European parliament backs big limits on tracking ads
The European Parliament has definitively backed major limits on behavioral advertising during a plenary vote on amendments to the pan-EU Digital Services Act (DSA). The move looks set to crank up pres
As its data flows woes grow, Google lobbies for quickie fix to EU-US transfers
As the legal uncertainty in Europe clouding use of US cloud services cranks up, Google has responded by firing up its lobbying engines to call for US and European lawmakers to get a move on and come u
A hard rain is coming for UK’s crypto boom
The U.K.’s ad-fuelled boom in crypto trading looks to be headed for major speed restrictions: The country’s financial watchdog said it will beef up rules around marketing of crypto assets
Amazon rows back on threat to stop accepting UK-issued Visa cards
Amazon appears to have rowed back from a public threat to end support for Visa payments in the UK in a dispute over payment fees. The ecommerce giant sent an email to users of Amazon.co.uk today infor
After Dutch antitrust order, Apple starts letting local dating apps use alternative payment options
Another regulatory brick in the wall for Apple: The iPhone maker agreed this weekend to changes to its App Store in the Netherlands focused on dating apps, agreeing to allow local developers of dating
Spain’s Payflow, a salary advance startup, banks $9.1M to fuel a super app growth strategy
Barcelona-based Payflow, a YC-backed salary-advance fintech with ambitions to evolve into a neobank, has banked a $9.1 million Series A funding round — bringing its total raised since January 20
Juro draws $23M into its browser-based contract automation platform
London-based legaltech startup Juro has grabbed $23 million in Series B funding for its browser-based contract automation platform. In total the startup has raised $31.5M since being founded back in
Give users genuine control over ad targeting, MEPs urged
Over 30 civil society organizations, pro-privacy tech businesses and European startups are making a last-ditch pitch to try to convince EU lawmakers to put stricter limits on surveillance advertising
In bad news for US cloud services, Austrian website’s use of Google Analytics found to breach GDPR
A decision by Austria’s data protection watchdog upholding a complaint against a website related to its use of Google Analytics does not bode well for use of US cloud services in Europe. The dec
Google offers not to put News Showcase into search results in Germany as antitrust probe rolls on
In the latest bit of regulatory woe for Big Tech in Europe, Google is trying to settle a German antitrust investigation into its news licensing product by offering not to expand the display of News Sh
TravelPerk adds $115M to equity and debt Series D, discloses unicorn valuation
SME-focused business travel booking platform TravelPerk has topped up the $160 million in equity and debt it raised last in a Series D last April with an additional $115 million — closing out th
Twig takes $35M to turn stuff you own into a way to pay
Twig, a London-based fintech targeting Gen Z and younger millennial consumers with an e-money account that gives them instant cash-outs on fashion and electronics they want to sell, has closed a $35 m
European parliament found to have broken EU rules on data transfers and cookie consents
The European Union’s chief data protection supervisor has sanctioned the European Parliament for a series of breaches of the bloc’s data protection rules. The decision sounds a loud warnin
Kodland, which teaches kids digital skills, grabs $9M to scale its online coding school
London-based Kodland, which started out back in 2018 offering in-person courses for children to learn digital skills like computer programming before switching focus to online learning from early 2020
Abbott tells CES it’s getting into consumer biowearables
U.S. medical device maker Abbott is moving into making general-purpose consumer biosensing wearables. The company has been making continuous glucose monitor (CGM) hardware for diabetes management for
Four weeks as an Ultrahuman ‘Cyborg’
For four weeks during 2021, this TechCrunch reporter took the plunge and tested a “metabolic fitness” service from Bangalore-based startup Ultrahuman. The tracker program, branded Cyborg,
France spanks Google $170M, Facebook $68M over cookie consent dark patterns
Chalk another one up for decentralized enforcement: France’s data protection watchdog has slapped headline-grabbing fines on Facebook and Google for failing to respect local (and pan-EU) cookie
Germany’s antitrust probe of Google products steps up a gear
In a decision as significant as it is unexpected, Germany’s antitrust regulator has concluded that Google’s business meets the threshold for special abuse control which was established und
This AI-powered art app lets you paint pictures with words
The reality-bending powers of AI have been kept increasingly busy over the past decade. We’ve had computer vision-powered 3D dioramas; trend-setting style-transfer; viral photorealistic selfie-t
Delivery Hero calls last orders on Foodpanda in Germany, Japan as it tightens focus on Q-commerce and logistics-as-a-service
German on-demand delivery giant Delivery Hero is pulling its food delivery service out of Germany again. At the same time it has announced it will exit the Japanese market, by divesting Foodpanda Japa